Vancouver — Canada’s own Kyle Nelson is fighting in what fans are calling a “banger” and potential Fight of the Night at UFC Vancouver this Saturday.
Nelson (16-6-1) has found success in Vancouver before. In 2023, the Canadian contingent with Nelson among them went 6-0 on the night at UFC 289. “I think this is going to be even better than last time,” the House of Champions-based fighter, from Huntsville, Ontario, explained during Wednesday’s UFC Vancouver media day.
Despite losing to Steve Garcia last time out, Nelson’s bout with Matt Frevola is still bringing high expectations with it.
“I wasn’t sure how some fans and some people, what they thought after the last fight against Garcia,” admitted Nelson. “I got a lot of people reach out, obviously it was some of the shots to the back of the head, the illegal elbows and stuff, so they didn’t really chalk it up to much.”
“It seems like I didn’t necessarily lose a whole bunch of momentum. At least from, I probably get one side of the coin from my fans reaching out,” he continued. “But I don’t feel like that set me back too much. I feel like that’s one of those fights, if we did it nine times out of ten, I think I would have got the better of him. But we’re moving forward going up to 155.”
Nelson has put on muscle to make the move to lightweight the right way. He’s fought there before in one offs, but expects the weight class to stick this time.
“Unless the UFC comes at me with seven figures, I don’t see me going back down to 145. It’s probably a little overdue, coming up to 155.” Nelson noted that he was already cutting muscle, not just fat, to make featherweight. “Now I think it’s at the point where it’d be almost impossible. So there’s need to be a really big incentive, and I’d need probably a year to go back. So yeah I think 155 is permanent.”
Watch the full UFC Vancouver media day appearance by Kyle Nelson above.
